Fabric-cutting machine



A. C. BUNKER. FABRIC CUTTING MACHINE- APPLICATION- FILED FEB. 17.1919. RENEWED mu. I4, 1920.

Patented Oct. 19, 1920.

A. C. BUNKER,

FABRIC CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 17,1919. RENEWED JAN. 14.1920.

1,356,485. Patented Oct. 19, 1920.

2 SHEETS+-SHEET 2.

ITLUtBZZiOf; G

- z i'iarvzegcf ARTHUR c. BUFiTBCE-R, or

FABRIC-CUTTING hIAGI-IINE;

Specification of Letters yet-exit.

mori'ronnm, new JERSEY.

Patented Oct. 19, 1920.

' Application filed February 1'5, 1919, Serial No. 277,392. Renewed January 14, 1920. Serial No. 351,498.

7 Machines, -clcar, and exact description.

To all whom it may concern. l

Be it known that I; ARTHUR C. ililUll'KEli, a, citizen of the United States, residing at lllontclair in the county of Essex and State of New ersey, have iii-vented certain new and useful Improvements in Fabric-Cutting of which the following" is a full,

The invention upon which is based the resent a licetion. for Letters Patent is on P improvement in machines for cutting a strip or strips of fabric 01' other material on the of the same for :islin'sulating conductors, or winding around any object whendesirable to use bias material.

bias from a tubulur body such purposes generally, ever it is The epparutusin which theinvention is embodied is a new form or type of machine for feeding n tubular fabric and cutting therefrom a. continuous strip and winding the letter on. a spool or reel involving improved means for supporting and feeding the fabric while being cut, for regulating the tension on the Winding reel .which takes up the out strip, for coordinating the strip cutting and strip-winding mechanisms and in other respects for improving the operction and increasing the efficiency and precticability of the apparatus as a whole.

In illustration of the principle of the improvement I have shown in the drawings and I shall describe in the specification which follows, a machincwith a single cutter designed to out off from etubuler body of fabric a single strip 011 the bias, and such ejconstruction is preferable from a. practical standpoint, but, from the'nature of the case, as will more fullyhereinufter appear, the invention is not limited either in this regard, or in respect-to the specific construction of the various elements involved except in so far as their function or purpose is concerned.

Referring to the accompanying drwwirrg's, which illustrate the preferred form of my improved machine;

Figure 1 is a view in elevation of the complete machine with parts omitted. to show those remaining in section.

- Fig. 2 is a detail viewin perspective-of the means emplo'yedfor winding the severed strips and special means used in connection therewith.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail of. the cutter mechanism. I

main power shaft in the annular two series of friction drive shaft 7 by bevel gears of a series of friction cel support or pillow block 1, mounted on a suitable. base 2, and providing a supporting socket 3 for a stationary horizontal drum of for "n1 4, the outer end of which is free. Around the shaft or tube which carries the drum is revolubly mounted a spur gear 5 which is engaged by a pinion 6 driven by a, 7, .by sprocket Wheels 8. and a chain belt 9. The power shaft 7 is shown as provided with mpulley 7", by which it may be driven from any suitable source of iower.

tilt the opposite end of the base is a stand urd or support 10 which carries an annular frame or cylinder 11 within whichissupported an annular rotary gear 12 having a motor 13 driving a, circular cutter blade 14 secured thereto. The gear 12 is engaged and rotated by e pinion 15 on a. shaft mounted frame and driven by a sprocket 16 from a. sprocket 1? on the main shaft 7 by chain belt 18. I

Mounted in the annular frame 1]. are also wheels 19 and 20, which are in planes radial to the uXis of the drum 4 and adapted to turn upon or in close relation to its periphery. Each series of friction wheels, as shown in F ig. 4, is driven by a vertical spindle 21 connected to the 22 and the sev- -are connected spindles by universal joints rotate in unison under the oral wheels of each series through their 23. so that all driving: force of the main shaft. The wheels 19 are of slightly greater diameter than the wheels 20 for a. purpose to be hereinafter explained.

Rigid with the spur gear 5 or mounted on a sleeve 24 secured to is a spindle 25 for a winding reel 26. The preferred construction of this part of the apparatus is shown in detail in Figs. 2iand 5 to consist of econical bearing 27 on the spindle to afford a seat for the winding reel by which it is automatically adjusted to its proper position. and a. counterbalance for the weight of the reel'which is adjustable as to its counterbuluncing effect in proportion to the load which may be imposed upon the reel.

or integral therewith This counterbalance consists of a frame slides a weight; 29 engaged by a threaded rod 30 passing through it and supported in the upper and lower sides of the frame. A star wheel 31 secured to the threaded rod 30 encounters a stop or finger 32 in each revolution which the reel and its supporting arts make and the rod is thus turned to shirtthe weight nearer to its extreme position or toward the star wheel as the weight'of the reel increases with the load of fabric which is wound upon it in the operation of the machine. v

The reel. has connected to it a spur gear 33, which is engaged and driven by an electric motor 34 to wind up the strip of fabric. In order that the rate of winding may be substantially constant the speed of the motor is regulated by a rheostat or other suitable means controlled by a gear wheel 35 on aging with a worm on the main shaft 7'. T .e motor connections 36 lead to rings 37 on the sleeve-2 1, and upon such rings bear brushes 38 which convey the current.

The means for varying or controlling the speed of the motor may be of any wellltnown character. known that by varying the resistance of the motor circuit, and hence the flow of direct current thereto, its speed is varied, and hence in the present case, for purposes of illustration, .we show merely a rheostat which, being turned b the main shaft,

varies the resistance- 0 the main circuit. Various other means for accomplishing the same result are very well known in the art.

These parts are so designed and adjusted that when the reel is first started in rotation to wind "up the strip of fabric the speed of the motor is at its maximum, but as it takes up the fabric and the diameter of the roll increases the speed of the motor, by the rotation of the main shaft,- will be reduced.

"it will be understood that a definite time will be required to fill the reel 26 with the strip of fabric wound thereon, and since the speed of the motor should slow down only during the interval of winding, it is manifest that the pitch of the threads which impart rotation to the rheostat, as well as the character of the latter, 'should be such that resistance will be included in the motor circult for such entire interval. Assuming that the duration of this interval is three min utes, for sake of illustration, the parts should be so adjusted and related that the main drive shaft by its normal rate of rotation will operate the rhenstat to throw in resistance at least for such period.

In theoperation of this machine power is applied to the main shaft which imparts r0- tation to the gears 5 and 12, and the gears are so related that these motions are synchronous, whereby the reel will draw For instance, it is well oil the fabric from the drum at the exact rate that it is cut. The fabric or other material to be cut has its edges sewed together, or is woven or made in tubular form, and is passed over the free end of the drum, It is drawn over the drum, a strip is cut from it, by the friction rolls 19 and 20, and as the former are slightly larger than the latter the fabric under the cutter is drawn taut as the wheels advance the fabric.

Any suitable form of cutter may be used, but the most convenient is a rotary disk cutter operating over a groove in the drum, and-its driving motor should be properly counterbalanced, to eliminate the slack takeups in its travel. 1 v

When the machine is started in operation the cutter blade rotated by its motor 13 and carried around the drum by the pinion 15 and gear 12 cuts oil' at an angle of fortyfitve degrees to the direction of movement of the fabric on. the drum a bias stripwhich, being attached to the winding reel, is wound up thereon at exactly the rate it is cut from the fabric. The motor 13 receives its current through brushes 3?) which travel over circular conducting strips 40 secured inside the annular frame 11.

- The above constitute the essential features of my improved machine. In practice, however, other details may be u'sed which assist in its operation. F or'example, the drum 4 may be mounted on a hollow shaft to which, through a valve-controlled pipe 41, air or gas under pressure may be admitted to keep the tube material extended or to facilitate the passage of the fabric over the drum. Such other appurtenances as are shown in the drawings require no detailed description as they are matters within the ordinary knowledge of those skilled in this art.

What I claim is i I 1. In a strip-cutting machine the combinationwith a drum for receiving a tubular fabric and supported at one end of a wind ing reel revoluble around the axis of the drum, a rotary cutter supported in bearings revoluble around the drum, said cutter being set at an angle to the axis of the drum, a driving shaft, gearing between the sameand the supports for the winding reel and for the rotary cutter, and means for rotating the reel about its axis.

2. In amachine for cutting strips on the bias from a tubular fabric, a drum over which the fabric is drawn while being cut, said drum being held atone end only in a fixed support, in combination with means for cutting a spiral strip from the fabric and synchronized means for winding up said strip as it is cut.

3. In a machine for cutting strips on the bias from a tubular fabric, the combination with a drum overwhich the fabric is drawn while being cut, aa'cutter revoluble around the drum, friction rolls acting to drawthe fabric over the-drum at rates which maintain it taut as it passes the cutter, and means for winding up the strip as it is cut.

4. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with a drum over which a tubular fabriomay be passed, a' cutter revoluble around the drum to out a spiral strip from the fabric, a winding reel for taking up such stripgas it is out, a variable speed motor for rotating said reel, and means controlled by the driving mechanism of the machine for controlling the speed of the motor whereby the strip will be wound on the'reel at a constant rate.

5. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with a drum over which a tubular fabric may be drawn, a cutter revoluble around the drum to cut a spiral strip from the fabric, a winding reel revoluble around the axis of the drum for taking up'the strip as cut, and a counterbalance weight for said reel movable from theaxis of the drum, and

' means for moving the weight in proportion to the amount of strip which is wound on the reel. v i

6; In a machine of the kind described, the r-wmbination with a drum over which a tubular fabric may be drawn,'a cutter revoluble around the drum, two series of friction wheels for advancing the fabric and located and from which it is delivered after being cut, and a winding drum revoluble about the axis of the drum for taking up the strip as it is out.

8. In a machine of the kind described, the

combination'with a drum supported at one end and free at the other, means for advancing a tubular fabric longitudinally over the drum, and a cutter revoluble about the drum, and means for feeding the fabric and rotating the cutter so as to produce a line of cut at a predetermined degree of inclination to theaxis of the drum.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

ARTHUR C. BUNKER.,. 

